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10/30/17

Beet lovers, this Pickled Beet & Egg Salad On Avocado Toast will have your taste buds doing a happy dance. I'm not sure why it took me so long to combine pickled beets in a salad with eggs since growing up in Russia, there were multiple dishes in which roasted beets were combined with hard boiled eggs and mayonnaise. The taste was great, the vibrant color was even better.If you think beets taste like dirt, you need to reconsider. Roast a few beets or buy them pickled in a jar and give them another chance.My twin has posted several photos of hard boiled eggs pickled in the liquid from pickled beets and turned them into a salad. I decided to go one step further and add pickled beets into the salad!First, you cook the eggs as you normally do. For me, that means covering eggs with cold water in a small pot, bringing it to a boil, turning the heat off, and letting the eggs sit covered in the pot for 10 minutes. Cool, peel, and dunk into the liquid from pickled beets. Refrigerate.I found the texture of the eggs change quite a bit and become firmer and almost unpleasant. The color was gorgeous, but even after several days in the pickling liquid, the flavor didn't really permeate the egg.

Instead, I suggest you use regular hard boiled eggs, and then add pickled beets. You'll get the same great color, but better texture.Pickled Beet & Egg Salad On Avocado Toast Recipe1 hard boiled egg, peeled, chopped1-2 pickled beets, depending on size, choppedmayonnaise, the more the betterwhole wheat toastavocado, sliced1. Combine chopped eggs and beets with mayonnaise.2. Top the toast with sliced avocado and beet/egg salad.3. Serve with coffee.

By the way, the very first photograph in this post shows my avocado tree!! How pretty is it? Have you tried growing one? It's a super long process which has tested my patience several times. The tree will never produce actual fruit, but I love the green leaves!

10/26/17

Do you ever have a craving for a burger but don't want something that's a simple patty on a bun with ketchup and a few slices of pickles for $3 or some extravagant concoction that's served on a silver platter and will cost you $40? Well, I have two candidates that will satisfy your taste buds and not cost you an arm and a leg. First, featured above, is Proper Burger from Duke's Grocery. It's made from Angus beef with melted Gouda, dill pickles, charred red onion, Thai sweet chili, rocket (arugula!), and garlic aioli on a ciabatta for $12. You can add a fried egg, but it's not necessarily. I like my burgers medium rare. This was a juicy, delicious mess in the best way possible. The only negative thing was that it did not come with fries. AND I could not order fries because Duke's Grocery doesn't have a fryer. Why??? I ordered elote instead. My friend Emily shared her pickled vegetables with me which were a great counterpart to the rich burger.The burger below is from DBGB. The Frenchie is made with a 7 ounce beef patty, pork belly, arugula, tomato-onion compote, and morbier cheese on a potato bun and comes with fries for $19. If you are ordering this burger for brunch, like I did, get the Bloody Mary on the side and then make sure you have time for a nap.

Where are some of your favorite places to get a burger? How do you like yours cooked?

10/23/17

It's Monday! I had a weekend of yoga, burgers, Bloody Mary, ballet, and shrimp and grits. It's all about balance, right?

I also had a chance to try out plant based meals prepared and shipped to me by Veestro on behalf of Meatless Monday. The meals were sent free of charge, but I'm not compensated in any way for sharing my thoughts with you.Okay, not that that is out of the way, let's talk about the fact that we all know that we need to consume more vegetables and fruit. I will not tell you to cut out all animal products, because that's not what I do. Instead, I try to have meals that are balanced and some that are completely plant based. After all, eating less meat is good for our health and our planet, and stretches our budget and creativity when it comes to creating recipes.Veestro sent me the meals frozen with clear directions on how to prepare them. Some required to be simply defrosted in the refrigerator over night, while others had stove top or oven heating directions.Overall, I liked all the dishes I tried and found them easy to reheat, satisfying, and something that I'd consider recreating in my own kitchen.The Red Curry with Tofu pictured above was probably my favorite because of the flavorful sauce and surprisingly pleasing tofu texture despite it being defrosted. I recommend topping the dish with fresh cilantro before serving.Below is Beluga Lentil Braise with kale, peas, and quinoa. I wish it had more lentils than the other ingredients because of its name, but liked the contrast of creamy sauce with the crunchy vegetables.

The Oatmeal Breakfast Pie was big enough for two breakfasts. The texture reminded me of a souffle, and I was happily surprised this pie wasn't too sweet. I had it with Greek yogurt, sliced apples and a bit of ginger syrup drizzled on top. This also reheated great in a microwave the next day.

The Roasted Beet and Kale Salad in my opinion could have used the most work. I don't know about you, but defrosted kale is not my idea of the best salad. I recommend you actually saute the kale and also toast the walnuts before making it into a salad. I did like the dressing that came with it. The Johnny Appleseed juice was just as refreshing and bright as its color.

These meals weren't complicated in their flavor combinations and would be something I'd keep in my freezer for those nights/days I don't feel like cooking. They were easy to make and did not leave me feeling hungry a few minutes later.What are you eating this Meatless Monday?

10/10/17

Is the kale craze still going strong? I think so. I do like kale in salads and soups, but I think my favorite kale preparation is chips!You can buy kale chips, but they are cheaper and better to make at home because you can control the amount of salt and the types of flavors/spices you may want to use.Last week I strolled through Whole Foods and saw that purple (aka red) kale was on sale for $1! I picked up a bunch and brought it home, where it sat in the refrigerator for a week. Finally, yesterday, I turned that bunch of kale into kale chips.How to make kale chips1. Preheat the oven to 300F.2. Remove and discard the thick stems from the kale leaves.3. Tear the leaves into large pieces and wash them well.4. Make sure to dry the leaves very well using a salad spinner, a kitchen towel, or paper towels.5. In a large bowl drizzle kale leaves with olive oil and season with salt. You want enough oil to lightly coat the leaves, but not to soak them. Start with a small amount of oil and then increase as needed.6. Put the kale leaves onto a cookie sheet in a single layer and roast for 20 to 25 minutes tossing the leaves every 5 minutes.7. Once the kale leaves are crispy and have turned into chips, take them out of the oven and sprinkle with additional spices: I used sumac.8. Allow the chips to cool down slightly and consume immediately. This is before photo. The one above is the after.

10/3/17

Are you interested in eating more seafood and increasing the amount of good fats in your diet? Are you intimidated by cooking salmon? Well, I am here to solve all of these issues for you.I've been splurging on Whole Foods Atlantic salmon filets for weeks. They are $4.99 per portion and make for a quick and healthy lunch or dinner.I like my salmon cooked all the way through (unless it's inside a sushi roll, in which case, make it completely rare!). I've found the quickest and easiest way to prepare a salmon filet is as follows:1) heat a skillet with a bit of olive oil in it2) put the salmon filet skin side down and season the fish with salt and pepper3) after 1-2 minutes of searing the skin, add a few splashes of white wine, water, or chicken broth to the skillet (be careful not to splash yourself), and simmer the fish with the lid on for 3-5 minutes depending no how thick the filet is and how cooked through you want your final product to be4) serve salmon, after removing the skin, on a bed of arugula dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper, and cut up vegetables of your choice (avocado, tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, etc).How do YOU like to cook salmon?